


horizontally and vertically distant

by poetjasmi (orphan_account)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Porn With Plot, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-12
Updated: 2017-07-12
Packaged: 2018-11-30 01:47:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11453436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/poetjasmi
Summary: The hardest thing about being with someone like Victor who Yuuri knows is going to do great is he's going to do great in a far off, dangerous place and, before then, Yuuri is simply left falling in love even while they are miles and miles apart.





	horizontally and vertically distant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LetTheButterbeerFlow](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LetTheButterbeerFlow/gifts).



> First of all! This is late and I apologize to you :( I forgot how absorbing exam season is and then, after, I was very upset with what I had written prior to stopping for my exams. So, please, take this as a token of all my sorrys. I rewrote this and reconsidered it so many times. I wanted it to be perfect so I wouldn't even think about deleting it (but I'll always have my self-doubts, of course). Please do enjoy <3
> 
> I decided to do your first two prompts! Check the endnote because I don't want to spoil anything though it's not too big of a spoiler.
> 
> Oh! Before I forget to mention, this fic was _very_ loosely inspired by Interstellar.
> 
> This is unedited.

They met somehow at a festival, where Yuuri was drinking some hard cream soda in overalls and crop top and Victor was across the way, leaning on the back of his rented red truck and casually talking to Yurio about the best way to get someone's number. Yuuri was dancing, as one does at outdoor movie events before the movie starts and they are playing something as sensuous as "Let's Get It On." Victor does not pretend to not hear Yurio sometimes, especially when this guy takes off his glasses and the setting sun hits him just right as he's laughing and falling over himself on his little picnic blanket with his friends.

Eventually, the music calms down to something even smoother than Marvin Gaye and the guy lays himself out, smiling brighter than the moonlight and Victor is taken by this so much so that Yurio up and leaves in the middle of their conversation in a bit of a huff for some popcorn.

"It could be that he's dating that black haired guy who has his arms around him," Yurio insists when they situate themselves in the back of the truck, pillows behind their heads so they could comfortably enjoy the magic that was _The Color Purple_ without cramps developing in their neck.

Victor huffs, shoves a handful of popcorn in his mouth and allows the butter to cause his lips to glisten. "He looks back at me too often for that to even be true."

"He could just a whore."

Yurio shrugs when Victor eyes him quickly, not apologizing for his harsh language. But, ah, Yurio was Yurio and he used only the harshest English words he could find when possible.

"Maybe he's just single and likes me."

"Hard to believe when you have a balding spot." He's self-conscious of that aspect of him, the silver blond of his hair that makes him look more like he's in his late thirties at first glance than in his early twenties. So he hushes, allows for Yurio to take from his popcorn bowl and watches a love story unfold before him.

Later, when Yurio sends him on a tedious mission to retrieve cotton candy from one of the food trucks while there is a break between the movies, Victor does not miss the chance to play with his feet in the dirt while he awaits his turn. He avoids eye contact and anxiously pats his back pocket to keep reassuring himself that his wallet is there where he had it. But soon he looks up, just to make sure he isn't about to run into the back of anyone when he takes a step forward, and finds that he is situated beside the man he had pined after during the past few hours of a thrilling movie who couldn't seem to focus on as this guy seemed to absorb all of his attentions.

Victor says nothing, for fear that nothing good can come out of this. He'll have to return to university soon, leaving his little brother behind with Yakov (Yurio is trying his hardest to convince him to stay instead of leave him with their adopted father but he keeps insisting that there is nothing wrong with Yakov and his rather intense parenting. It's only tough love and Victor thinks he needs a taste of that, especially after travelling to Saint Petersburg with him for a month with no adult supervision besides his brother—which isn't much, mind you) and possibly any connections he plants in this area before he returns for another intense semester.

But this one is unshakeable. The glint that hits his circular glasses (and who buys those anyway and looks so cute wearing them?), the colorful splash on his crop top, the smile that lights his face when his friend (?) says something funny in his ear and suddenly his eyes are focused on Victor—

"Mind if I got your number?"

Forwardness never played to Victor's favor in the past. He always found it terrifying for someone to confront him without his prior ability to prepare, so he fumbles between sharing this private information so quickly and asking if this beautiful human truly wishes what he asks for. Instead, he settles on a startled, "huh?" because looking taken aback is always attractive to absolutely no one ever.

"Your number?" There's a tinge of uncertainty, some afterthought that maybe he was wrong about Victor touching his voice to which Victor is scrambling in his mind to make amends for his stumbling and somehow be smooth.

He looks up, smells the sugary sweetness of candy and saltiness of popcorn, to ensure his spot in the line is secure as this placates him and tells him he has no escape from this situation. "I would really like the name of the person asking for my number first? And a reason why?" Not at all close to smooth. Too clinic, he berates himself.

But it gets the job done. "Yuuri and maybe I could take you on a date sometime."

Forwardness never played to Victor's favor but it was obviously doing something for this Yuuri. "Date?" Yuuri nods and Victor smiles. "What's your definition of some time?"

"Tomorrow? For brunch?"

Yuuri's friend beside him murmurs something suspicious like, "Are you sure you're going to be functional in the morning after all those drinks you've had?" but Yuuri just laughs him off, shoos him away from his ear and awaits Victor's affirmation.

Because Yuuri seems sure Victor will accept if not for the way he grins like he knows Victor's been watching him all night and will do so again when _The Talented Mr. Ripley_ plays and Yurio is asking what's got him so distracted.

# ❀

Brunch, he thought, was going to be out at maybe a fast-food joint or even a buffet but Yuuri just sends him a personal address to a simple apartment that has conflicting decoration styles. When asked about it, Victor immediately sees the difference in Yuuri from last night to this noontime: where he was once nowhere near sparing with his words, he seems shyer now, mincing his sentences every so often (more often when Victor looks up to look at him when he talks).

He finds it all enduring.

When he arrived, Yuuri was in the process of setting out ingredients and so, their first date is spent cooking together and Victor learning that Yuuri likes his eggs sunny side up while he only likes them boiled, they both like their pancakes as fluffy as possible (who wouldn't), and bacon is better left for Victor.

Sergio Mendes plays in the background and though Victor doesn't know a lick of Portuguese, he infers that Yuuri must be some kind of linguistic major or just knows "Mas Que Nada" so well that he _sounds_ fluent as he dances around the kitchen singing perfectly (he isn't shy about dancing, whether he has alcohol in his system or not). They eventually loosen up around one another in this toasty little kitchen where they don't bother to even sit down to enjoy their brunch but rather stand at the counter and talk about how much being an immigrant in this country is daunting yet thrilling.

This whole date is cute, Victor thinks, as he considers how smooth Yuuri's skin whenever he catches the opportunity to look without being caught, the dusted pink that brushes Yuuri's cheeks whenever something embarrassing is asked, or the way he eats. He takes big bites, cuts pieces too big and then shoves them into his mouth gracefully somehow. It makes his cheeks look bloated and too big for his face as he fiercely chews through the pancakes or eggs sitting in his mouth.

Yuuri this afternoon rubs at his eyes and bitterly discusses headaches. "Glasses make them worse, no matter how cute they look." It's a dumb, nonsensical thing to say but Victor nods like that makes sense because, in that moment, it does make sense whatever Yuuri says.

When he is walked out the door before dinnertime to due to begin and after Yakov texted him thirty minutes ago asking him when he'd come home (and after Yurio sent about fifteen texts requesting he come home), Yuuri kisses his cheek, says they should definitely do this again because he hasn't ever found anyone who loves watching the Food Network as much as he does.

# ❀

They don't meet again until a few days later when Yuuri rings Victor up, asks him what's he up to. Victor doesn't lie and says he has a multitude of summer break assignments he's been putting off since arriving in the States with Yurio. In no way did he think Yuuri would ask to show up at Yakov's house (especially after hearing Victor complain about how harsh he could be to Yurio who just hadn't learned American customs fast enough and tossed aside some of his boyish Russian charm for the sake of adapting to a new house on the coast) so he could help or at least provide some much needed company along with Chinese takeout.

Victor hates math sometimes but Yuuri makes it better, survivable even as he explains evenly that without mathematics, nothing ever could exist. Somehow, that doesn't ease Victor's hatred but it does open him up to liking Yuuri's dose of remedy.

# ❀

At some point, they fuck. It's nothing short of satisfying but nowhere near as romantic as Victor would have liked; however, the curve of Yuuri's hip in his hand when they go out roller skating one night and Yuuri sidles up to his side, gliding with a hidden rhythm in his feet and balance guiding him as he roller skates backwards in front of Victor, fits too nicely and is too warm for it's own good.

They grab ice cream from a Sonic but, whilst waiting for the orders, inch closer and closer in Victor's rented car and end up tongue to tongue. It's only hit Victor that that's their first kiss when a waitress raps politely on the window and murmurs a thanks when Victor delivers hefty a tip in her hands.

Yuuri has already made the executive decision to outline where everyone is that who could possibly interrupt them should they go back to his place and Victor grins, says if Yuuri is real quiet, they can have a sleazy fuck in his room. The place is big enough that no one would hear them if they kept it down.

On his bed, they ensure that Yuuri has a pillow available to bite should he need it ("Oh, you'll need it," Victor says while he shifts legs around his waist and wastes no time in lubricating his fingers).

Just as he guessed, Yuuri can't be quiet to save his life and bites the pillow enough to cause teeth indents. Victor fingers him slow, detailing how he felt about this date where Yuuri decided to wear one of his hoodies he must of stole after one of their study dates, and Yuuri simply sobs into the pillow while clawing with one hand at Victor's bicep, unable to formulate the words necessary to be sarcastic and handsomely pesky like he usually is.

That doesn't stop Victor from knowing what he'd say, from smiling into Yuuri's collarbones when he finally enters him smooth and steady.

And afterward? They lie back and talk about what they'll make for breakfast tomorrow morning.

# ❀

Victor hates goodbyes but Yuuri tells him goodbyes aren't goodbyes "especially if you plan on seeing me again which you should because I'm hot and you'd be missing out."

He says it with a blush and that's how Victor knows that though that was cute and all, Yuuri isn't as strong as he pretends to be and neither is Victor.

He tells himself it's a summer fling and it really felt that way at some points. Especially when they had fantastic sex all throughout Yuuri's apartment, when they went to the beach too many times to count, when they had more fun than strife. But Victor also likes to think that Yuuri is just that easy to get along with, that they are so compatible that everyday with him is easy and wanted and requited.

# ❀

When they see each other again, it's via postcard. Victor doesn't write many letters but he thinks he can start one today. It's corny, it's too austere and he's sure Yuuri wouldn't understand all the meaning wrapped up in him sending this postcard (because he's never had someone to send a postcard to), but he knows he'll appreciate it somehow nonetheless.

# ❀

Dear Yuuri Katsuki,

I think I accidentally kept one of your shirts and then packed it in my bag when I left Yakov's. It's that one Olympics sweatshirt you liked to wear sometimes and, before you ask, I have worn it and it looked pretty good on me.

I wanted to write this mainly to tell you I miss you and I miss last summer. It's been way too long since I've had that much fun. Possibly, we could do it again. I mean, I will be coming down for every break because my family lives near you but, yeah, I'd like to see you again too, of course.

Victor Nikiforov

# ❀

He sends the letter without a second thought.

He's starting to think it was a huge mistake.

Christophe sits at the front of the class and urges Victor to follow suit because "Good students sit in the front. Come on, Victor! It's been scientifically proven to be beneficial and you know it." He groans though because he's beyond this. He knows what they're going to discuss and he already has the answers. Honestly, he wants to go back to his apartment, muster up the ability to fall back asleep even if he isn't all that tired, and waste the day away.

Because despite the everyday texts and calls they have shared, Yuuri hasn't mentioned anything about a letter arriving. He's starting to think that maybe Yuuri's ignoring the obvious invitation he grants in the letter, the clear want he conveyed so openly. He also can't ignore that he sent a _literal_ letter, something so dramatically archaic that Yuuri might be turned off by it, he figures while tapping the end of a pen against his lips.

But soon he stops contemplating the ways he might have gone wrong when he sees that Yurio has texted him that he's run away from home "officially" and has come to live with Victor and Christophe in their tiny apartment.

Victor would be flattered if this wasn't just about the hundredth time Yurio has had trouble adjusting in America so much that he manages to leave Yakov long enough to make it to Victor. It never ends well, as you would expect, when you have a fifteen-year-old navigating his life without parental or brotherly supervision and, usually, Victor ends up at some flea market where Yurio decided to settle down because he was so overwhelmingly lost in whatever new city he was in (plus, flea markets made Yurio feel more at home. He says it has a lot to do with the smells and the tendency of people to completely ignore his presence unless he wants attention).

Tastefully, Victor manages to escape the classroom to make a call.

"Where are you?" The panic in his throat manifests itself in his lack of a greeting, the tremor in his voice, and Yurio's immediate compliance to his question.

"I'm in a taxi. On the way to your apartment." That explains the sound of the rushing of air and the static. After a moment's lapse in silence and Victor releasing a sigh, Yurio politely starts up their typical conversation when this happens. "I know what you're going to say."

"What am I going to say, Yuri?"

For some moments again, there is nothing but silence but when Yurio speaks, he sounds small. "I know you think I'm being childish and I should get over myself but you should know that it's harder than it looks when I've only known Saint Petersburg."

Victor can forgive homesickness any day of the week.

"I miss the dance academy and I miss Otabek and I miss the poodle," he continues. "If I don't have to lose more things, I'm gonna try."

"Yuri, you didn't lose me." He calls him a sweet name in Russian just as he did when they were younger and, through the phone, Yurio's fears dissipate, the apprehension that he might be angry and send him back home. But Victor says his goodbyes, walks back into class and politely asks if he can handle a family emergency: his brother is coming home.

Yurio beats him there, texting _do_ _you hide a key under your mat? that seems like a_  c _Christophe_ t _hing to do,_ so when he pulls up in his truck to find Yurio in the apartment complex parking lot, he doesn't question it nor comment. Instead, he is calculated, does not speak until he's gotten himself together and pushed back the strands of gray hair out of his face.

First thing Yurio says is, "I brought Leo." Leo, a tabby, sits sleeping in his arms calmer than Victor has ever witnessed him.

They don't speak after that which isn't unusual. Victor is just hyper focused on trying to understand the many dangers Yurio probably took to go from coast to coast and Yurio seems hellbent on not upsetting whatever tender balance hangs between them. So he doesn't ask for food when his stomach grumbles and Victor doesn't get up to retrieve him any and neither of them makes small talk as they pack away what little Yurio brought over.

It isn't until Christophe barges in several hours later (Victor told him immediately what had happened before leaving class under the amusing scowl of their teacher and Christophe demanded he have a conversation with his brother. Something heartfelt and along the lines of emotional but Victor's friend is too romantic and idealistic to know that Yurio would never). He is not at all silent and, in fact, grabs Yurio up in his arms after setting down a warm pizza box. "Ah! My little ice prince. I haven't seen you in so long."

Victor laughs when Yurio takes the hug as it is, pouting a bit but hugging back nonetheless. "I missed you too."

Christophe smiles, sheepishly sets him down, and pats his shoulders. "I need to get a good look at you. You've grown so much since you last escaped to Yakov."

This is when Yurio seems the most embarrassed and turns a bright red yet stands taller, head high. "I hit a growth spurt."

"Tell me all about it over the pizza. I bought your favorite." Christophe shoots a look over to Victor who is presently sitting on the couch. "You too, you oaf."

And once they all sit down and start shoveling food into their mouths, whatever tension may have built between Yurio and Victor that day slowly began to dissolve.

# ❀

Phone sex isn't a great substitute for sexual intercourse with Yuuri but anything to hear him heave in his ear because the sensations are too overwhelming is satisfactory in Victor's book. "Tell me what you're doing."

"No."

He adjusts himself against his pillows while huffing a laugh. "That's the whole point of this phone call, Yuuri. For you to tell me what you're doing." Yuuri sounds breathless on the other end, doing something Victor has no sense of. It's starting to drive him insane how unbearably impossible this man can be when all he asks is some description.

"No. Tell me what you're doing."

Simple answer: "Thinking about what you're doing." Yuuri snorts.

But it's true. All he can think about is where he was before, back in his room across the country with black hair and dancer's body under his own silently pleading. Yuuri had done so beautifully, managed to be quiet the whole time Victor drilled his fingers into him and then managed to cum silently even while he was overstimulated with his dick in Victor's mouth. Unreasonably, he had felt a swell of pride in his chest when he spits the cum out as his eyes unabashedly surveyed the layout of Yuuri's body, the soft wetness of his cock and the flushed quality of his cheeks.

That being his only intimate experience with Yuuri's body, he's reasonably fascinated by whatever Yuuri could possibly be doing to himself.

He's considered what Yuuri would like. Whether he's gentle with himself and prefers it so or if he's hurried and hard or some combination of these qualities. Whether he uses only himself or toys. Whether he's thinking of Victor or some dark fantasy. Any of this is inexplicably sexy to Victor and he _just wants answers._

"Yuuri, please."

"No."

Victor doesn't have a kink for being denied but he'll take Yuuri saying no, laughing under his breath when Victor doesn't get what he wants for a third time, instead of Yuuri not being here at all.

He can't help it. He missed him.

# ❀

Yakov calls him before he boards his flight. "Yurio is telling me to invite a Katsuki Yuuri to your party? Is that the boy who hung around last summer?"

Victor is watching other planes leave the airport and the snow sticking to the grass areas of the runway (he wonders, _why have grass areas on a runway?_ ) so he's a bit distracted, especially since he's been up since five, trying to make sure everything was in order for his and Christophe's flight. "Yeah."

Yakov harrumphs.

"Do you not like him? I thought you liked him a lot." Victor was never good at introducing friends and romantic interests to Yakov as he was callous and had a tendency to be blunt on the spot but he thought he'd tried his best with Yuuri.

His father doesn't answer his question and that's telling enough. "Yakov, please, I really like him."

Victor knows he's going to say some bullshit about it being a family-only celebration, that his early admittance into a NASA internship program due to such high marks during his seventh bachelor's term was nothing if not private information for the family only. But he'd argue that Yuuri had, somehow, in the summer and fall months crawled his way into Victor's heart and bore his weight down just to demonstrate his presence.

Yakov gives in right before he's meant to board his flight. Christophe gesticulates wildly which frustrates him when he's trying to convey seriously and clearly that Yakov cannot uninvite Yuuri.

Before he must hang up, he says, "Listen to Yurio for once, dad."

# ❀

Yakov listened.

And managed to throw the cutest Winter Holiday/Birthday/I'm-So-Proud-Of-My-Adopted-Son-For-Trying-To-Be-An-Astronaut party ever and it's a wonder that Victor ever said he hated this house before simply because it didn't remind him of home. If anything, this was his new home: the warm scent of someone's apple pies, the steaming meat buns, the continuous stream of hugs and kisses on the cheek from every single grandma-aged woman that entered his house. Whoever said home couldn't be brought wherever he was had not experienced the magic that is a determined Yakov.

Yuuri is one of the first to arrive with Phichit and Mila in tow (Yakov didn't like inviting Yuuri and he damn sure didn't like inviting Yuuri's friends but there is little he can do when it's Victor's party), flowers in his hand and a card hiding between the soft tulip petals. Victor almost takes it off his hands until Phichit pushes forward, waving a bottle of Smirnoff around, "I brought vodka."

Victor laughs from the stomach at Phichit's enthusiasm and the grin he wears on his face. "Thank you so much. My father will love this."

"This is not for your father. This is for us later," Mila adds.

Yakov will not be pleased with 20-somethings getting tipsy in his house but what he doesn't know wouldn't hurt him. He gives a cheeky smile. "Then my father will hate this."

They eventually disperse after hiding the vodka somewhere safe and exclusive but, before Victor can take his post as the front door (awaiting the hugs and kisses of Yakov's family), Yuuri drags him off to a private guest room. "I've been waiting too long for you to take these flowers." He hands them over with zero flourishes, timidly.

Victor cradles them in his arms but immediately plucks the card out of the wrapping. "What's this here?"

Yuuri bites his lip nervously. "I think you should sit down and read that."

Victor quirks up an eyebrow but finds the bed and takes a seat.

And he opens it to find a letter:

Dear Victor Nikiforov,

Can you believe our first date was brunch at my house and I made you cook? I think about that some days when I'm sitting on the phone with you and you go off on a tirade about astrophysics class and I cannot, for the life of me, understand what the hell anything you say means. But I like the way you get excited and I like not knowing these things because when you talk about space and going up there, I get scared. I digress, however. I really wanted to talk about how I could have treated you to a better date. Something special to show you how special you are in my life even though we've known each other for little more than half a year.

Despite how ill-planned a date that was, I miss last summer too. Ill-planned dates and all. Hopefully, you can let me try again. And again and again.

Love, Katsuki Yuuri

P.S. I'm so sure you looked really nice in my Olympics sweatshirt and I bet you wear it all the time (in fact, I know you wore it all the time because you wouldn't stop taking pictures with it on you). I hope you didn't stretch it out because that was one of my favorites. :(

Victor stops reading and holds the letter to his chest, overwhelmed, and Yuuri leans in to point out that "Yurio told me to write you a letter. You sent one to me a few months back and I never had the chance to respond so...," He searches Victor's eyes for some last words but he's surging forward, in search of Yuuri's lips.

"I should be saying all this stuff to you," he breaks off the kiss to whisper—hot breath pressing against Yuuri's cheek when Victor reaches up a hand to plant on his chin so he can land kisses all over the skin before him. "I want to try again and again until you're satisfied."

"That's really sappy," Yuuri chuckles but returns all the smooches, even managing to have Victor inch his hand to Yuuri's mouth so he can chastely press kisses there.

"Is that a compliment or not?"

Yuuri smirks and doesn't answer yet the lack of one doesn't dissuade Victor from assuming Yuuri has only positive thoughts about him, grabbing him at the neck and ravishing him as quick as he can at a party his father threw for him in the guest bedroom closest to where all his relatives lurk.

He wouldn't have reconnected with Yuuri after three months any other way.

# ❀

For the duration of the break, Victor spends it going between Yuuri and Yurio and sometimes with both.

Yurio pretends not to like Yuuri because of petty things like he's too short for Victor and he's not an astrophysics major but is studying nursing and he doesn't speak Russian so Yuuri cannot possibly be a perfect match for an idiot like Victor.

Victor says the tail end of that statement is highly contradictory but Yurio flips him off, gets in the truck (the one Yakov got for his birthday so he could stop renting and borrowing. He gave him the keys and said, "Now you can stop driving Christophe's horrible vegetable farmer truck and upgrade to fruit farmer truck!"), and they head off to pick Yuuri up from his apartment so they can go to the animal pound. He crosses his arms as he sits shotgun as he knows Yuuri will politely try to take the back seat but Victor will shoot Yurio a look and he'll sigh and crawl into the cramped back.

At the animal shelter, noises and smells are overwhelming but he finds it in him to get over the stifling musk and finds himself hand-in-hand with Yuuri who is dragging him to the cat room.

"I love cats a lot," he comments when Victor looks over to the dog section where Yurio disappeared to. "Of course, nothing is better than dogs but sometimes cats sit in your lap and it's one of the best experiences ever." Victor doesn't believe the testimony—Leo never sits in his lap willingly nor does he sit cute and pretty while Victor tries to shower him with love. In fact, he just scratches Victor's legs. A lot—but he believes in the dopey smile that takes over his boyfriend's face and they enter.

It's amazing what a good kitten can do for someone. They fall in love with a Russian Blue who practically collapses into their laps purring when they opened the cage. Victor is close to buying her when Yuuri looks at him and says, "I hope Yurio wants another cat because I want to get this one for his birthday."

Victor gaps, mouth open and cat curling around his sprawled palms before he manages to say, "You want to do what?"

Yuuri grows some pusillanimity in his expression as his shoulders draw in and he averts his eyes. "I was thinking, well, Yurio left home because he felt abandoned by you and all and basically did the most dangerous thing a kid could do because he doesn't feel secure here." Victor nods at the gist. "I live here and I want to be there for him. He's grown on me."

"But why a cat though?"

Yuuri shrugs. "I know he likes cats. That's about all I know except that he loves you and hates me and America and misses everything Russian." The cat swishes over to him and nudges her head into Yuuri's hand. The smile that follows his luminous.

"Yurio doesn't hate you." Victor couldn't fathom anyone hating Yuuri. "He was hanging all over you during the party last week!"

Yuuri delivers a self-defacing laugh, the tinge of the sound tight and, if Yuuri believed Yurio hated him any more than he already does, Victor is sure it would sound teary. "He was watching me. Like a guard dog." After a moment of silence (except for all the cat noises surrounding them), Yuuri adds softly, "He doesn't like me and he doesn't have to, of course. I just want him to know that he has a home here."

They buy the cat later on in the day when Yurio is in dance lessons and they take to set up a makeshift home for the little girl until Yurio's birthday comes.

When his birthday comes later on in March, Victor can't come. Yakov doesn't throw him a party because Yurio doesn't want any uproar like Victor did but Yuuri still appears with several confetti poppers (after asking Yakov if that's all right. He'll even clean up the mess later), his laptop so they can Skype Victor, and the cat carrier with a nice crisp silver bow on the top.

Yurio is hiding out in his room, doing wall splits (Yuuri would join him like he's done before and ask what's on his mind but he's got a lot in his hands), obviously upset about something. "I brought you a little something." Leo bounces off the bed where he was sitting before and rubs against Yuuri's legs, trying to garner attention but ultimately failing.

Elegantly coming to a standing position, Yurio stands before him sweaty and looking stunned. Yuuri would laugh but he knows that would get him in big trouble with Yurio. "What's all this." His eyebrows are raised and his lips are set in a thin line.

"It's your birthday! And I wanted to get you something special." He raises the carrier. "I figured you could use more company."

Yuuri knows when Yurio is bluffing at this point, can tell when he's just being unsympathetic to the whims of Yuuri's social anxiety and trying to find any way to chip at whatever armor Yuuri's prepared. He stands, examines everything from where he is, doesn't speak a word which makes Yuuri think that he's overstepped too many boundaries, maybe gone too far with trying to demonstrate that he can be a bit of a supplement for when Victor is too far away and he's upset because he's so far from home. Yuuri knows about homesickness and especially the immigrant experience into modern-America and he knows what Yurio is going through.

But Yurio doesn't say anything. He comes forward, hesitant, and takes a hug from Yuuri's overflowing arms. "Thank you. So much."

When they Skype Victor later, Yuuri nor Yurio recounted how Yurio cried. Specific secrets are meant for specific friends and Lord knows the two of them are far off from that but they're trying to work towards it as best they can.

# ❀

After Victor's college graduation (and the commencement of Yuuri's summer break before junior year), the first thing Victor does him and Yuuri arrive in Saint Petersburg is take him to their hotel room and tell him how much he's missed him. Sure, they had flown over together but most of the plane ride consisted of them sleeping and blearily staring at airport food. Some words were exchanged here and there but Yuuri had already spent hours on a cross-country flight just to sleep for two hours before boarding another flight.

"I haven't seen you in three months," he says into Yuuri's neck as he plants kisses here and there, trying his hardest to find the spots on his skin that will make him moan. When Yuuri shivers into the kitten licks just under his jaw, Victor calls it a victory.

"We talked everyday and you visited me during spring break." His voice is raspy.

Victor chuckles and backs a bit out of Yuuri's arms to see the damage he's done on his neck (there are several little pink bites on his skin). "Yeah, and guess who was there? Yurio."

"Because he missed you. Like a little brother should."

Victor nearly goodnaturedly scoffs at how buddy-buddy the two of them are now but he can't possibly hide the progress the two of them have made in becoming friends. It's somehow attractive how Yuuri is so selfless, so giving. Victor wants, for once, him to receive.

Yuuri presses a kiss on Victor's jaw. "I have so much energy I want to burn off but I don't know what to do."

Victor gives him a lecherous smile. "I know plenty of ways of burning off energy in a fast, effective, maybe even pleasurable way."

"Are you a telemarketer?" Yuuri laughs but allows Victor to lead him to a bed where he gets possibly the tenderest mouth on his dick and softest hands on his ass, switching between squeezing his thighs and detailing the dimples on the small of his back.

Yuuri likes Saint Petersburg.

# ❀

"I'm terrified of space. There's always the slightest chance that you can mess up and end up caught in dead space with limited resources, with a panicked crew, a small, cramped shuttle, and no further connections to Earth, to the people you love and who love you. I'm terrified by it but it's mystifying to explore. At least, that's what Victor always told me." Yurio and Yuuri sit in the living space of Victor and Yuuri's shared apartment. They salvaged as much money as they could to get a nice, cozy place near Yuuri's school and close enough to the NASA center and flight school. Yurio kept Leo and Marsha (he named the Russian Blue after watching The Brady Bunch) here with them because apparently Yakov had no understanding of feeding cats.

"Victor talks to me about space but I tell him not to," Yurio continues. "Black holes and dark matter. All that shit scares me. Once, he gave me a book that detailed spaghettification on the body because he, and I quote, wanted me to know about the 'coolest way to die.'" He pauses to search for the best way to get his point across. He finds the words, swallows to clear whatever lump is forming in his throat. "It's just—I never imagined he'd get so close. He was selected _early_ by NASA for an internship. I know you know but that's a huge fucking deal. He's smart and so brave. I only wish he was brave enough to think about his own well being and smart enough to leave space alone."

Yuuri would laugh if he didn't share those same doubts and fears every time Victor talks about the potential of manning a spacecraft. Every night, he lies on his side staring at the silver tendrils of his hair thinking, _I'll miss this if he goes. I'll never see this again if he leaves and never comes back._

"When I was little and he would talk about it, there was no doubt in my mind he'd become someone great. Being an astronaut is a fantastic honor for one's country. And I know the fatality rate is low because of new engineering but," Yurio bites his lip, digs into it until the skin breaks a little, "he could be that 3% that dies. I love him too much to see an early grave."

When Yurio looks about finished spilling out the gutty remains of his fears, Yuuri opens his arms and draws Yurio into his lap where he sobs into his chest. "I've never shared that with anyone. It's scary."

Yuuri pets his hair like he's done a million times before, hushes him gently while rocking back and forth and says in the calmest voice he can find, "I know that it's scary and believe me, I'm scared that he'll leave and never come back. But," Yurio sniffles at that moment, "he'd never do that to you. He loves you too much."

They sit, absorbed in the comfort of a light blanket wrapped around both their shoulders, before Yurio retreats out of his arms and says softly, "You know, Victor would never want me to tell you this but he loves you. More than anything." Yurio's face is red and he doesn't glance up to look at the skewed glasses on Yuuri's face or the blush rushing to his cheeks and down his neck. "Like, he talks about when he's going to marry you."

"Marriage?"

"He wouldn't propose for a few years if he's serious but that doesn't stop him from thinking about it."

A pulse of warmth floods Yuuri's stomach. "What do you think of that?"

Yurio reconfigures himself on the couch across from Yuuri and grins at him, "As long as I'm his best man and am allowed to buy you guys a cat as a wedding gift, I'm not disagreeing."

Yuuri smiles back. "Thank you, Yuri."

# ❀

For awhile, things stagnate for the three of them. Yurio applies for college and gets into a dance academy with flying colors, Victor manages to rise to the top of his flight class, and Yuuri graduates, enters medical school and begins the even longer, strenuous process of becoming a fulltime nurse. Nothing changes but everything does as Yuuri and Victor adopt a poodle while visiting Yuuri's family and name him Makkachin because Yuuri's mom insisted it would be cute or as they slowly begin the process of looking for somewhere to stay in Florida so Victor can join the space program there when he is inquired about a job change (it is a _when_ and never an _if_. Yuuri has never had a doubt in his mind).

Everything stays relatively normal but according to the theory of space-time relativity, as there is more gravity in an area, time slows down.

Time begins to slow to a standstill. The gravity of every situation weighs on them like a black hole.

# ❀

"I would like to ask your hand in marriage."

This is a good moment. Yuuri likes the cozy moment after Victor took them on a short trip to the ice cream parlor and he says, "Hush, no talk of work, please. For my sake," and they explore the shopping center with cream soda floats. The lights seem dim because it's late—nearing midnight— and all the skylights show stars (or maybe just reflections of the lights though that doesn't stop Victor from looking up and catching Yuuri's smile when he directs his eyes back down). They are dressed way too fancy to be in a mall but they have just come from a banquet at Yuuri's work. This is Victor's way of calming him down after all the pressure to get up in front of people and deliver some words of gratitude for the recognition he was getting.

When they got back to the apartment, they stripped out of their clothes and snuggled on the couch. Past both their bedtimes but Victor didn't have many obligations outside the house and Yuuri had the day off tomorrow. So putting in Yuuri's favorite movie at one o'clock was definitely not going to hurt anyone.

 _Les Misérables_ is funny to Victor because Yuuri sings along to all the songs in a subpar French accent ("Hey! I studied in France for quite some time, you dipshit." He gets a pillow thrown at his head and all he can do is laugh as Yuuri continues to sing "I Dreamed a Dream" ("This song is emotional and you're ruining it by laughing!").

But it's when they get to "On My Own" and Victor thinks, _yes, I've felt the excruciating pain of being away from Yuuri and, yes, my world, would stop turning if weren't beside me,_ that he excuses himself at two in the morning to go to the bedroom, gather himself before he goes back out there.

He pauses the movie, is met by the sleepy doe-eyed look of Yuuri. "Yuuri." He kneels next to the couch on both knees so he's slightly below Yuuri. "Yuuri, can I ask you a question?"

And when Yuuri nods, confused but willing, he says it.

Yuuri smiles. "Of course. Ask."

Victor, weary, asks, "Would you do me the tremendous honor of marrying me?"

"Of course."

 

# ❀

They have the wedding before Victor is obligated to go to Florida and Yuuri to a research facility. They'll be separated again but at least they wouldn't be so far apart. Maybe only a ten hour drive on a bad day.

They have the wedding on the beach where you can hear the seagulls and can see the crabs digging holes in the sand. Yurio and Phichit, as the best man, have the rings but somehow manage to lose them but Yuuri and Victor knew it would happen and knew, somehow, these idiots would find them (likely with the help of Otabek and Christophe).

The wedding is everything they could dream of. Simple and straight to the point. Wham, bam, thank you ma'am and they end up both embracing first instead of kissing when the priest asks them to do so which causes everyone to laugh before they share a nose kiss (Yakov tells Victor later that that's when he teared up. He'd always known that Yuuri loved him more than anything but that was it, the moment when he'd come to realize that his son-in-law was more than special and more than deserving). Everyone rises and claps, and pretty soon the reception begins.

Dressed in a black cherry and a cool, navy suit jacket, Victor and Yuuri cut the cake and dance the night away to some jpop and Candi Staton. It's their favorite thing to do together when they're alone in their bedroom but, here, in front of all their friends and family, they show up and show out. All the anxiety Victor expected from Yuuri melts when he wraps his arms around Yuuri and whispers in his ear, "I can finally call you my husband." He's sure Yuuri hears the smile in his voice and feels it against his skin when Victor bends down a bit to solidify his words with a kiss to his neck. "We get to pay taxes together." Yuuri quakes in his arms as he chuckles.

It was a good day.

# ❀

"I was asked to go on the next moon flight."

Yuuri's mother told him that relationships, marriages especially, are tough. Theirs is made tougher by the many miles between them, the one hour time difference between the two so when Victor calls after a long day at headquarters, Yuuri is already passed out in a bed somewhere far away, getting ready to wake up early for another day researching the cause of viruses. They have limited time to see one another, so little time to consider talk now and too often does Yuuri go to bed with his ring on, holding out hope that Victor will come home that night even though he's not due for several days.

He could have it much worse, he figures. He could have what they had six years ago: seeing each other over school breaks and skyping when they could and writing letters like they lived in the 1920s; however, careers have a way of making you realize how precious time is. How fast it can go, how slow it can drag on.

Like this moment.

When Victor calls him and says this, thirty minutes in after Yuuri has talked about Yurio's excellent grades in developmental psychology ("Do you think he's going to go into education? That seems like the next step especially since he's so fond of the children at the ballet studio"), Yuuri nearly drops the phone.

"Is that what you want to do?"

Victor seems to mull this question over in his mind for a second before huffing, exhausted, into the phone receiver. "I knew you'd ask me that question. Sweetheart," he says this pet name in Japanese as pet names are all he knows, "I'm asking you. You know I want to go but I'm asking you if you're willing to your partner enter space for three days."

Yuuri doesn't answer for some time, just sits on the phone while he watches his white rice cook. Promised himself when this day came, he absolutely wouldn't cry but he can only think about what Yurio has told him. There is a small chance that someone can die on any job but Victor going out and never coming back terrifies the shit out of him whenever he thinks about it. It rests in his nightmares; it consumes his thoughts the day before Victor is due home every time; it brings his heart to an unsteady rest whenever it enters his mind and he begins to have a minor anxiety attack thinking, _what the fuck would I do without him?_

He suddenly understands those many, many months ago what Yurio was talking about.

Victor says, "Call me after you've thought about it. I love you."

"I love you," Yuuri repeats numbly.

"Tell Makkachin and Mela I love them."

That night, he has another nightmare and is awakened by their cat, Mela, meowing too loud for her own good. She nudges his hand with her head and sits on his chest. He doesn't know how she knows but she calms him down enough to make a clear decision.

# ❀

Yuuri gets some time off from work to see his husband off on his first trip. It was hard work but he has good standing with his department director (Agnes is one of the sweetest people he's ever met and, though he thinks it's inappropriate to get cozy with superiors, he would not at all mind inviting her tagging along for a friendly lunch date with the rest of his coworker friends).

He arrives at the apartment in the middle of the day while Victor is being debriefed on this, that and the other. He unpacks and considers calling Yurio when he's done because now that he has nothing to do but sit and wait for Victor, he cannot stop thinking about how he's going to have to do this for four other days while he's going to the moon. But Mela and Makkachin comfort him in his moment of need and he finds it in himself to turn on the television and relax.

Everything will be fine. Victor will know what he's doing when he gets up there in that big, vast plan of absolute nothingness that could single-handedly tear you to shreds if you so desired.

# ❀

Victor comes home and, because they have seen very little of each other months after their wedding, he can't seem to keep his hands off of Yuuri for long. They cook together in the kitchen with Victor pressing his front to Yuuri's back while Yuuri stirs a pan of stir fry up. He's needy, Yuuri knows this and wishes he could do something about the desperation they both feel, but Yuuri is just as needy if not more. He sits between Victor's legs when they eat on the couch, the spoon afterwards and no words are exchanged this whole time.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yuuri shakes his head, keeping his head down and hidden in Victor's chest. "Is there anything you want to say? At all?" Yuuri shakes his head again and Victor sighs. "I don't want my beautiful husband to be irrationally scared while I'm up there." He strokes Yuuri's hair; he takes the frames sitting on Yuuri's face and puts them on the coffee table. Yuuri likes the gesture and opens up to it by making eye contact with Victor. Granted, it's short but it's there. "I don't want you to be scared. I don't want to come home and find out you weren't okay because of something I did."

"Sweetie," Yuuri starts but Victor shushes him quickly.

"You're going to say something about you're fine but I know how you feel about my job. You and Yurio both." He pets Yuuri and Yuuri smells the lingering peppermint leaves on his hands from the peppermint lemonade. It has a sweet smell. "I can back out and it wouldn't affect my career as an astrophysicist. Sure, I'd love to but I definitely don't have to."

Yuuri thinks about this over. "You know I can't be the one holding you back?" It's hard to finally say it. How he's felt about this whole situation. Yakov, he's sure, would say something about him being selfish and an opportunity-waster if Yuuri gave into Victor's reassuring, safe promises. But, as he's been told, a relationship is built on trust and the want to push your partner towards a bigger and brighter future. Yuuri had a fear that he'd be the weak link in Victor's particular future and he wouldn't have it. "You have to go and explore. That has nothing to do with me and everything to do with what you want out of life. Whatever you want, I want too. Plus," he adds after taking a deep breath to right himself, "my anxiety is mine. I have coping mechanisms and I'll be fine."

He sits up on his elbow and brushes his fingers through Victor's hair, looking at him meaningfully. "You trained for this. You can do it and I believe in you." He kisses him softly.

He'll be all right. Yuuri is sure of it.

# ❀

Four days later, when Victor pulls through, it is maybe the most Yuuri has ever cried in his entire life. He is thankful, he believes he is blessed and he is talking to Yurio who sits on the other end of the phone mystified that Yuuri is even at the space center holding up the way he is. Yuuri comments that he's in a bathroom stall crying and Yurio tells him to shut up and consider how strong he is for having the forethought to do it somewhere private.

Yuuri and Yurio had gotten constant updates from the team. All good, of course. NASA has done the moon trip too many times with humans and robots. But the panic that washed over his skin once he got a notification from them whenever he had the worst thought already or had woken up from a dreadful nightmare to see message after message from NASA concerning his husband felt brand new every single time. Felt unique in that the two of them had to be the only loved ones to have sent up someone they considered too dear and special to never come back down again.

After Victor is cleared by the doctors and asked about samples he'd like to keep from his exploration and all the standard protocol, Yuuri awaits him with bated breath and Mela over his shoulder keeping him as calm as possible. His skin is flushed and his eyes are rimmed red but he has a smile on his face and sushi from the supermarket in his hands as a "Congratulations for doing it!" gift.

"That was the most horrendous thing you've ever done in the history of your life but I'm proud of you, big brother," Victor says during a call when they get in the car and the skin around Victor's eyes crinkle as he laughs. Yuuri can smell the standard soap smell on him, tasted the beef jerky he must have eaten when he landed in the kiss they shared when he'd finally set his spaceman feet in the same room as Yuuri's regular ol' feet.

When they get back to Victor's apartment, Yuuri hugs him for the twentieth time that day. "It was so scary with you up there. But I'm proud of you."

Victor draws him in, "I'm proud of _you_. I'm glad to call you my husband, my dear."

Yuuri smiles. No matter how long they know each other, every moment is much like an eclipse: bright and dazzling and, even in the darkest moments, too special to call anything else but spectacular.

**Author's Note:**

> Things you should check out if you haven't already:
> 
>   * _The Color Purple_ : y'all cannot tell me you haven't seen this movie but if you have the misfortune to have never witnessed such beauty before and such canon poc, queer lady love, then I would say that this is my callout post @ you: GO WATCH THIS MOVIE.
>   * _The Talented Mr. Ripley_ : best fashion choices? And great characterization? And plot development? And it came out the year I was born (1999 baby!) so you know it's good. 
>   * _Interstellar_ : such a good movie that's kinda slow in the beginning but the premise is gorgeous, as well as the cinematography, so suffer through that slow beginning to get to those mindblowing bits. And then check out [cinemasins' video on it with Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnArCFSrkg8) who disproves and approves all the space science in the movie. And _then_ check out this [awesome book](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Interstellar-Kip-Thorne/dp/0393351378) I have yet to read (I've read bits and pieces but I haven't bought it yet because, alas, no monies—I mean, that is, if someone wants to commission me for like $20 for a 4k then I'd be on it *sigh*) that explains the science of the movie in more detail. 
>   * _Les Miserables_ : If you haven't seen the 2012 version, you're missing out!! I have watched this movie over and over and, gosh, I was gonna write about Yuuri crying while he was singing the lyrics because that's what I do but I also think Yuuri wouldn't cry at this point (he'd cry later, when all the stuff goes down). Honestly, if you haven't seen these movies, hmu on twitter and I'll just have a livestream where we all sit and watch these movies. Because they are good and I love them 
> 

> 
> Speaking of twitter, hmu on [ my public account where I talk a lot about literature news and writing news and poetry stuff and commissions;](https://www.twitter.com/poetjasmi) I just talk a lot but not nearly as much on [ my private account ](https://www.twitter.com/JasTabor)where I _don't_ shut up. My fandom/writing tumblr is [ right here for those of you who wanna read drabbles, like, every other day ](https://www.rebelrumi.tumblr.com) because I post drabbles _often_. And my "regular" tumblr is right [ here](www.poetjasmi.tumblr.com). 
> 
> My request-er had several prompts but I combined some stuff. First one was Character A is afraid of something but doesn't tell Character B and, afterward, Character B is left picking up the pieces. The second was Yuuri and Victor get married but the best man (men in this case) lose the rings (bonus: Yuuri and Victor know about it, lol).
> 
> I'll likely go back and add some more when I get the chance. Or maybe just write another fic in this universe with Victor's perspective of space. 
> 
> Catch me writing more Voltron fics for the time being, however! Thank you for reading <3


End file.
